1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improvements in high voltage power modules. More particularly, the invention relates to improvements particularly suited for providing a low profile module with low parasitic losses, high voltage capability, and operation at high temperatures.
2. Description of the Known Art
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, power modules are known in various forms. Power modules or packages are known in various forms. Patents include U.S. Pat. No. 7,687,903, issued to Son, et al. on Mar. 30, 2010, entitled Power module and method of fabricating the same; U.S. Pat. No. 7,786,486 issued to Casey, et al. on Aug. 31, 2010, entitled Double-sided package for power module; U.S. Pat. No. 8,018,056 issued to Hauenstein on Sep. 13, 2011, entitled Package for high power density devices; U.S. Pat. No. 8,368,210 issued to Hauenstein on Feb. 5, 2013, entitled Wafer scale package for high power devices; U.S. Pat. No. 6,307,755 issued to Williams, et al. on Oct. 23, 2001, entitled Surface mount semiconductor package, die-leadframe combination and leadframe therefore and method of mounting leadframes to surfaces of semiconductor die. Additional articles include: R. K. Ulrich and W. D. Brown, “Advanced Electronic Packaging,” New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2006, p. 203; and Shengnan Li, “Packaging Design of IGBT Power Module Using Novel Switching Cells,” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Tennessee, 2011, http://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/1205. Each of these patents and publications are hereby expressly incorporated by reference in their entirety. From these prior references it may be seen that these prior art patents are very limited in their teaching and utilization, and an improved power module is needed to overcome these limitations.